The workshop notebook
The notebook
What I learn while making: the material, the gestures, the pieces.
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01
Papier-mâché, recycled paper, MoldingPulp: what it really is
Why my lamps start as papier-mâché without quite being it: the recipe, the ingredients, and the three words I use.
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02
How a papier-mâché lamp is made, from ground newspaper to wax
The seven steps behind a lamp in the workshop: drawing, mould, paste, hand shaping, drying, sanding and wax.
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03
A sculptural lamp drawn for one place
Size, colour or shape: how a bespoke sculptural lamp is ordered, what to specify, and the real lead times.
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04
Choosing a lamp room by room: bedside, living room, table, desk
Which lamp for which room, at what height, and what an opaque paper paste changes about the light it gives.
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05
Mirleft, 2008: where this material comes from
A village in southern Morocco with no electricity in the streets, newspapers ground at the oil mill, two years of failure, then plaster.
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06
The workshop colours: the colour is in the material
Natural paper, carbon black, sage, ivory, brick: five colours, pigmented through the mass, plus colours made to order.